All party leaders on Wednesday agreed to set up a special Parliamentary
Committee to work out means and measures to curb organised crime and
underworld activities.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met the party leaders in Parliament
who underlined the necessity of taking stern actions to curb underworld
activities and organised crimes pointing to the rising wave of contract
killings, drug trafficking and armed robberies. They agreed with Prime
Minister Wickremesinghe's suggestion to set up a committee comprising
representatives of all the parties in Parliament.

The Prime Minister will meet President Chandrika Bandaranaike
Kumaratunga after the Tokyo donor conference to seek her views on the
proposed committee.

Interior Minister John Amaratunga has also expressed concern over
serious crimes that have been committed during the past few months and
urged tough action against the culprits.

The latest move came following the IGP T.E. Anandarajah's directive to
establish a 'Special Striking Force' that will also include the Special
Task Force (STF) to combat crime, especially underworld activity and gun
running. The IGP had directed his DIGs to forward progress reports to him
every fortnight on their investigations.

The special unit will also prepare a comprehensive report on underworld
characters and hard drug traffickers under detention orders.

Elite STF commandos who now specialises in VIP protection and security
activities in the East have been trained for a wide variety of roles which
include anti-crime operations. The special unit which will compile
dossiers on underworld activists and hard drug traffickers will also
investigate their links with crime mafias abroad.

The special unit is empowered to question any person irrespective of
his/her social or political status.

The public can divulge any information regarding criminal activity to
the Special Striking Force on telephone numbers - 441147, 588083, 384099,
431346, 327227 and 542515. All information will be kept strictly
confidential.

Police have identified nearly 30 underworld gangs involved in ruthless
and vicious crimes during the past few months in the Western Province
alone. Underworld gangs have been involved in a lot of murders in the
province from January to March 2003.

There has also been several instances of gang warfare, which claimed a
number of lives.